1. Technical Field
Exemplary embodiments of the invention relate to the manufacture and construction of packaging materials. More particularly, embodiments relate to systems, methods, and devices for creating a manufacturer's joint and sealing packaging materials, such as packaging formed of corrugated board.
2. The Relevant Technology
Manufacturers and suppliers of products often package their products in shipping containers before sending products to their customers. Each shipping container may accommodate either a single product or multiple products, depending on the application. Moreover, the container allows for ease in handling, shipping, and storing the products, along with providing protection from damage, theft, and contamination.
Although many types of shipping containers and container materials are readily available on the market, one of the most common shipping containers is a corrugated cardboard container or box. Boxes are typically both economical and sufficiently strong for most shipping uses and come in many shapes and sizes. Included in the known type of boxes to which the present invention can be applied is the regular slotted carton.
A regular slotted carton is generally rectangular and includes four contiguous vertical side surfaces and two pairs of flaps, commonly known as the major and minor pairs of flaps, on both the top and bottom of the box. Each of the flaps is connected to one of the vertical side surfaces, such that when the pairs of minor and major flaps are folded toward each other and toward the center of the box, the edges of at least the major flaps meet near the center of the top or bottom of the box, effectively creating the top and bottom horizontal surfaces of the box and closing the box. The flaps on the regular slotted carton are typically sealed in place by glue or by tape.
Numerous devices are used in the corrugated board industry to convert a cutout blank into a corrugated box. Some of these devices are able to cut, crease, and fold the corrugated blank so as to make the necessary creases and scores that allow for ready folding and erection of the box. A gluer is another device that is often grouped as one in a series of machines operating to convert paperboard blanks, one-by-one, into boxes. In one example, the gluer may be used to seal a manufacturer's joint, a glue flap, and the like in order to form a box. The manufacturer's joint is the portion of the box where the opposing ends of the box blank are attached together so that the four side-by-side panels create the four vertical contiguous walls of the box. The gluer ordinarily receives a folded blank with the four side-by-side panels separated from one another by longitudinal creases and slots. As noted, each of the panels also includes opposing flaps that can be folded to form the top and bottom of the box. The gluer may apply glue to an adhesive strip or prepare an adhesive strip to seal the manufacturer's joint, thereby creating a box with four connected sides. Alternatively, the gluer may apply glue to a glue tab and/or an opposing panel and press the glue tab against the opposing panel, thereby creating a box with four connected sides.
Typical gluers are relatively large, complex machines. These machines often have conveyer belts for advancing the corrugated blanks through the machine. Typical gluers also include glue applicators that may be mechanically driven along a portion of the corrugated blank in order to apply glue to the glue tab. Additionally, many gluers include means for applying pressure to the glue tab, such as a pneumatic arm, in order to facilitate bonding of the glue to the glue tab and the opposing panel. Because of the complex nature of typical gluing devices and the need to ensure proper timing of the glue dispenser and the other moving parts, gluers often have computers or other electronics that control the operation of the various parts of the machine to prevent the moving parts from colliding with one another.
For example, the computer or other electronics may coordinate the timing and control the operation of one or more pneumatic arms for folding the box blank, a glue applicator for applying glue to the box blanks, and a compression device for applying pressure to the glued portions of the box blank, such that none of these components interferes with the others. The complex nature of these gluers, with the numerous moving parts and electronics, increases the cost of the machines as well as often requiring significant maintenance and operating expenses.
In addition to their relatively complex nature, typical gluers are often very large. A corrugated blank that is glued with a typical gluer is usually folded such that the glue flap extends down the middle of the corrugated blank. Gluers are therefore made with large C-shaped frames. The bottom portion of the frame supports the corrugated blank during the gluing process. The top portion of the frame, which includes the glue applicator, extends over the top of the corrugated blank so as to be able to reach the glue flap in the middle of the corrugated blank. For larger sized corrugated blanks, gluers with even larger sized frames are needed. These large gluing machines can occupy valuable space in a manufacturing or other type of facility.
In another example, taping systems can be used to make a manufacturer's joint. Taping systems include tape dispensers and hand-held tape guns. While these systems may be more space efficient, particularly in comparison to the gluing systems described above, taping devices can be awkward and imprecise for dispensing a length of tape sized for taping a manufacturer's joint. For instance, to create a manufacturer's joint on a box blank using a hand-held taping device requires an individual first to fold and maintain the side panels of the box blank so that the opposing ends of the blank are positioned close together so tape can be applied thereto. The individual must continue to maintain the panels in this position with one hand while using the other hand to grasp the hand-held taping device and applying tape or other sealer to the adjoining areas of the opposing panels. This process can be cumbersome and lead to manufacturer's joints that are weak or otherwise ineffectively secured. While many of the automatic and semi-automatic taping devices are less cumbersome than hand-held devices, like gluer devices, these more sophisticated machines are often complex to use and expensive to manufacture and maintain.
The subject matter claimed herein is not limited to embodiments that solve any disadvantages or that operate only in environments such as those described above. Rather, this background is only provided to illustrate one exemplary technology area where some embodiments described herein may be practiced.